Editorial: Dennis earns another term as West Lafayette mayor

Oct. 21, 2011

Four years ago, John Dennis, a political neophyte exiting a career on the Lafayette Police Department, came into office seeing what he called all sorts of problems in West Lafayette, the city where he grew up.

In the Republican's first campaign, this one for mayor, he freely used the word "embarrassing" to describe how things had been going during the previous four years. "I was tired of hearing about the city as the punch line of a joke," he recalled this month.

West Lafayette hadn't exactly become a joke. But let's just say that a string of cringe-worthy escapades by members of the West Lafayette Police Department, an overly aggressive annexation plan that left the city one fire station short and yet another salty repair job for Lindberg Road already going bad, dark humor was easy to find. And it had whittled away at city hall's standing.

Dennis promised fixes for those problems. He's done a good job to deliver in the past four years - maybe not in the flashiest ways and not without some interesting moments along the way, but he's done what he said he would. The punch lines involving West Lafayette are rare these days.

For that alone, Dennis deserves another four years as mayor.

John Polles, retired from the Army and from time as a Purdue instructor, makes a case that Dennis has faded into the woodwork on West Navajo Street, allowing himself to be a caretaker mayor.

We're not sure we buy that.

Dennis shaped up the police department. He reworked the city's code enforcement in near-campus neighborhoods. He helped broker what hopefully will be a more permanent fix for Lindberg Road by working with Tippecanoe County to build a bridge across the Celery Bog. He's maintained good relations with Purdue University.

The fact that things seem to be quiet on the West Side don't necessarily mean things aren't being done.

Polles has pulled honorable duty by taking on a top-ticket role for the Democrats in this year's election on Nov. 8. But he even he has acknowledged how difficult it has been to find problems that resonate for West Lafayette voters. He's bemoaned the fact that Dennis is a likable guy who seems to be doing what he considers to be a decent - if not great - job. Polles says he could do the job better. But during the campaign, in interviews and at public forums, we haven't heard a persuasive case that suggests that claim is true.

If he wins re-election, Dennis will have plenty on his plate in the next four years. Already faced with questions about shifting money around in city accounts, Dennis has said this campaign that new fees and other revenue options will be on the table. Those will be tough sells, no matter how popular he is.